One hundred years from now
it will not matter what kind of car I drove,
what kind of house I lived in,
how much money I had in my bank account,
nor what my clothes looked like. But the
world may be a little better because I was
important in the life of a child.

Communities kicking child abuse

How do you stamp out child abuse? It’s a community
effort. And, that is precisely what the Safe Harbor Child Advocacy
Center of Tennessee’s Fourth Judicial District and the Red Dragon Martial Arts
Center of Jefferson City are emphasizing this month.

On August 26th, Red Dragon will be holding its Tournament of
Champions, beginning at 10:00am in their studio located at 723 East Main
Street in Jefferson City. Ten dollars ($10.00) per student from the
enrollment fee for each event in which they compete will be donated to the
Safe Harbor Child Advocacy Center to help serve child-victims of sexual
abuse, severe physical abuse and severe neglect in Cocke, Grainger, Jefferson
and Sevier counties. Students will be able to showcase the many talents
they have acquired during their studies at Red Dragon, while indirectly
helping the child-victims of our area to move past significant traumas in
their lives.

“We are very excited about this opportunity to collaborate with
Bill Whitworth, his staff and students at Red
Dragon Martial Arts to increase awareness in our district
and raise money to combat child abuse”, says Barry
Fain, charter member and president of Safe Harbor’s
board of directors. “This is a prime example of members of our
community stepping forward to help some of the most defenseless members of
our society that are truly in needs of help.”

“Red Dragon is one of many groups that are taking the initiative
to help us stamp out child abuse in our area”, adds Donna Koester, a
charter member and executive director of Safe Harbor. “We are
very grateful to the staff of Red Dragon, their students and the parents for
joining us in this endeavor to raise awareness and funding for child-victims
of severe abuse.”

“We (Safe Harbor) welcome the possibility to discuss
opportunities to collaborate with our friends and neighbors in the business
and civic communities to help combat child abuse in our area”,
concludes Fain. “With SafeHarbor
serving the four counties of Cocke, Grainger, Jefferson
and Sevier and Red Dragon also serving students in the same counties, this
partnership for the August 26th Tournament of Champions was an excellent
opportunity for everyone.”

The SafeHarborChildAdvocacyCenter
is an IRS approved 501(c)(3) non-profit
youth organization established to serve child victims of abuse ranging from
birth through 17 years of age. Persons interested in learning more
about SafeHarbor and/or discussing opportunities
to partner with SafeHarbor to help
child-victims of severe abuse may contact their executive director, Donna
Koester, by phone at (865) 453-2638 or e-mail at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
. Interested parties may also visit SafeHarbor’s
website at www.SafeHarborCAC.com.